Digital-first strategies and guidance:

Implications for job and competence profiles of Public Employment Services´ counsellors

Susanne Kraatz

WAPES Secretariat

Cedefop CareersNet • Conference: Rethinking professionalism of career practitioners in the digital context

Fourth CareersNet annual meeting, 8-9.10.2020

A click away from employment … (and career development)

What about the role of guidance?

1. Concept: Career guidance in PES

2. Setting: Digital transformation and digital first

3. Job profiles: the evolving role of employment counsellors

4. Competences: The European Competence Profile for PES counsellors

5. HR Management: Benchlearning concept and PES Network practice

6. Conclusions

Structure

1. Concept: Career guidance in Public Employment Services (PES) Acquision of career management skills as objective

“Bridging career transitions is first of all a matter of empowerment. Jobseekers and job changers need to be enabled to build bridges themselves, to take control of their own careers. However, they - especially vulnerable

groups - need to be supported …”

“A shift from the traditional role of job matching to a relationship with a customer that consists of facilitating,

coaching, […] and co-producing of new PES services drawing upon customer insight.”

Going beyond the usual paradigm of activation Clear focus on active support, empowering,

and user involvement

PES Network vision 2020 and beyond

Source: European Commission: Benchlearning Manual, 2018:11

HR Management

Guidance - Individual Action Plans

ICT - blendedservice delivery

1. Concept: Career guidance in PES – standards set by the framework forquality management (quantitative + qualitative performance assessment)

1. Concept: Standards include career guidance for employmentThe basis for a guidance-oriented job and competence profile… coherent with current policy paradigm

• Ressource-oriented assessment of employment potential, but nofocus on career management skills

• Collaborative preparation of an individual action plan (placementinto a job, more intensive support – ALMP measures)

• Follow-up, further support (but also, in line with activationparadigm – mutual obligation, monitoring – sanctions)

Employmentcounselling

• Grouping by intensity of support needed – e.g. job ready, need fortraining, more comprehensive support

• Profiling methods: 1 employment counsellor, 2 in-depthassessment by external service, 3 statistical profiling

SegmentationUnderlying management concept

• In- house or external career guidance / case management• More intensive job search assistance• Testing – in-house, external service• Work experience• Short occupational training for a vacancy• Quaflification - e.g. VET• Combined training measures – training social skills, social

asssitance• Wage subsidies• Health and social services, NGOs etc.• Post-placement support

Tailoring support – ALMP

measures

3. Offering career management portals and using YouTube – PES France

3. Increasingly web-based includig chats - PES - Sweden

2. Changing setting: Trends in digital transformation and digital first

An increasing offer of online, self-help tools and interactive communication pushed by COVID19

Digital first: National and European multi-functional platforms (including Europass Platformfor career management) as first access point

Self-help tools: Job search, creating CV, how toapply, skills profilling, automated matching, jobs withsimilar skills profiles / transferable skills, identificationof skills gaps -> training needs (big data analysis),, mobile apps

Interactive tools including chats, bots, videocounselling

Targeted digital-first strategies: Profiling tools(using AI) to identify job-ready jobseekers capable touse digital tools (learning lessons: – example NL -online tools only do not work for all)

From blended services to omni-channelling asfuture integrated service concept: customerchoice – seamless switch

3. Virtual events, interactive LMI and video-guidance - PES Estonia

3. Using social media for outreach – Belgium VDAB

3. Job profile: The evolving role of employment counsellors

Former core tasks will be increasingly automated, e.g.- Placement into a job- Identification of skills gaps (incl. digital skills)- Identification of training measures needed- Routine administration

Employment counselling will become more demanding- Support for more complex job search (e.g. other job with partially

overlapping profile, job below former job level)- Stronger focus on vulnerable groups with more complex needs- Mitigating the digital divide among clients- Working with more channels, tools and platforms

… in a context of an increasing mandate for PES- Early intervention (e.g, contacting youth in education)- Prevention of unemployment (e.g. workers threatened by unemployment)

4. Competences: The European Competence Profile for PES and EUREScounsellors (2014) includes both, guidance and digital(PES survey, working group, other frameworks, expert input)

Set of competences: career guidance for labour market integration

In line with the PES Network vision and other guidance competenceframeworks (foundational, counselling, supporting competences)

… including competences for blended service delivery

Digital transformation – Rethiinking the competence profile?

Need for updating, specifying + mainstreaming digital competences+ adding AI knowledge (general understanding of underlying process; risksincluding private career management pflatforms)

4. Competences: The European Competence Profile for PES and EUREScounsellors (2014) in detail(PES survey, working group, other frameworks, expert input)

Foundational competencese.g. Professional conduct and ethical aspects, client orientation, dealing withpressure, change)

Client interaction competences – dealing with jobseekers and employersCore part, most competences e.g. Counselling, individual action planning –promoting career management skills, motivation, resource-oriented assessment, problem-solving skills, justified referrals, facilitating placement

Supporting competencesSystem competences, e.g. knowledge of labour market, vulnerable groups, networking and partnershipsTechnical competences = ICT skills and ability to work in a context of blended service delivery, Information management skills

4. Competences: The European Competence Profile for PES and EURES counsellors (2014) in detail

Supporting competences – Technical competences ICT skills and ability to work in a context of blended service

deliverye.g. competences to use basic and service-specific ICT equipment and software, work with internet and online resources, to provide blended service delivery, to use of recruitment tools, telephone or online information and assistance

Information managemente.g. assist clients to access and use information on job opportunities and training

Rethinking the competence profile? Rather Update+ Specific or transversal approach to integrate ICT? Both Need for update of the specific competence areas

e.g. big-data and AI incl. potential issues (e.g. profiling, suggestions) Need for transversal integration (e.g. counselling skills section)

5. HR Management: Benchlearning concept and PES Network practice

Benchlearning HRM concept includes

o Competence profileso Initial trainingo Continuous professional developmento Career development

+ Strategic HRM

PES Network practice so far

Focus on strategic HRM (e.g. attracting and retaining talent, staff motivation and leadership)

… partial implementation, room for further development

5. HR Management: Benchlearning concept and PES Network practiceBenchlearning HRM concept in detail

Benchlearning concept

Shift in the role of PES towards services focused on facilitation of transitions: strengthening of counselling and guidance elements in the job of employment counsellors

Standards for HR strategy

o Definition and description of qualifications and competences profiles for all functions at all organisational levels

o Profiles should be made accessible to all employees o Initial training plan for new employees upon entry (taking account

of different competences due to different entry qualifications), use of mentoring and coaching programs

o A further training and career development plan (competency based, life-cycle approach)

o Training for implementation of blended services should be part of HRM strategy (From section G – Design of operational processes)

6. Conclusions

Filling the gap – research and mutual exchange on staff competences and competence profiles

• Pooling resources - Identifying common training needs for the digital context and develop open-source online training modules and concepts

• Continuous professional development and resilience - approaches for peer learning and online communities of practice including problem-solving (using the knowledge from the project EmployID)

• Evidence-based use of channels for information and guidance -Research involving users and counsellors to gain more knowledge which interactive channel serves best for which purpose and client including face-to-face guidance

“PES biggest asset is its staff” (Pôle Emploi; in Sienkiewicz 2018: 17)

One of the advanced PES including (digital) innovation

Or, to put it into a broader context:

Competent staff to support the supply side compensating for social disadvantage is the main added value of public employment services.

WAPES Secretariat95 rue de la Loi1040 BrusselsBELGIUMPhone +32 2 235 72 50Fax +32 2 235 72 59wapes@wapes.orgwww.wapes.org

Sources:European Commission (Authors: M. Fertig; N. Ziminiene) 2018. Benchlearning ManualEU Network of Public Employment Services Strategy to 2020 and beyondEmployID – MOOC for HR. https://employid.euErtelt, B.-J. & Kraatz, S. 2011. Introduction: Professionalisation of Career Guidance – Changes, Chances, and Challenges. In B.-J., Ertelt & S. Kraatz (Eds). Professionalisation of career guidance in Europe: Training Guidance Research Service Organisation and Mobility (pp. 11–46). Tübingen: Dgvt Verlag. European Commission (Author L. Sienkiewicz): Job profiles and training for employment counselors. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14102&langId=enEuropean Commission (Author: H. Tubb) 2012: Activation and Integration: Working with individual action plans –Toolkit. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14081&langId=enEuropean Commission (Author: L. Sienkiewicz), 2014. European reference competence profile for PES and EURES counsellors. http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14100&langId=enEuropean Commission (Author: W. Pieterson) 2017. Multi-Channel Management in PES: From Blending to Omni-Channelling. http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=18865&langId=enEuropean Commission 2017 (Authors N. Williamson; Ch. Millan): Career Guidance and Lifelong Learning –Summary Report. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=18459&langId=enEuropean Commission (Author L. Sienkiewicz) 2018: Human Resource Management: How to attract, retain and motivate staff. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=20127&langId=enEuropean Commission (Author K. Walsh) 2020. Dematerialisation of services in EU PES. Assuring full access to the PES services for people with limited opportunities. https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=22954&langId=enEuropean Commission 2020: Webinar Staff Motivation and Leadership. https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1100&furtherNews=yes&newsId=9783European Commission WAPES (Author: S. Kraatz) 2020: PES strategies to support the recovery after the COVID-19 crisis – summary report. http://wapes.org/en/news/webinar-pes-strategies-support-recovery-after-covid-19-crisis-080920